Classic folding cameras capture Thanksgiving in Upstate NY:

Shooting on digital the past two decades, and standardizing on a specific system, originally Sony, and now for close to a decade on Nikon digital, I got used to having a range of interchangeable lenses to draw from, and many of them zoom lenses, giving me the flexibility of adjusting focal length from 18mm to 300mm at the drop of a hat. I’ve also been able to use digital tools to make adjustments and corrections to the images I have been capturing digitally.

 

While it has been great to have both the flexibility of focal lengths, and the ability to correct some of my errors post-processing digitally with Lightroom and other tools, these also started to feel a little like crutches as well once I began shooting on film again.

 

This is not at all a knock on those that make extensive use digital tools for post-processing.  I also recognize that some of my favorite photographers (e.g. Ansel Adams was quoted: "Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.") have used burning and dodging to get the final printed image they were working towards. One of my friends, Ross Johnson, is a true maestro at using digital post-processing tools to bring to life his vision in his photography. 

I just wanted to try to not lean on these tools…and maybe I’m also nowhere near as good as Ross at being able to blend art and science in digital processing.

 

So, heading to visit family for US Thanksgiving in November 2022, I decided to spend the long weekend only shooting on film, and I only brought the vintage Voigtländer folding cameras with me for the trip. No interchangeable lenses, and the shots I get are on film, not in a RAW format waiting for digital post-processing. The only flexibility was the film chosen, and the format, either 35mm with the Vito II or 120 format with the Perkeo 1.

(I did use my iPhone to capture a couple of images while there, including the one below, at sunrise. I managed to capture this riot of colour that only appeared for a minute or two before the sky fully clouded over, and before I could load colour film into one of the Voigtländers: I mainly brought black-and-white film for the trip, though I did have a few rolls of colour in my bag).

All of the photos below were shot on Ilford HP5 Plus 400 ISO film.  The Vito II has a fixed Color-Skopar 1:3.5/50 lens, and the Perkeo 1 has a Vaskar 1:4.5/75 fixed to the end of its bellows. And once again, these were developed and scanned by the fine folks and the Canadian Film Lab.

 

The 120 square Perkeo shots are below.

 

The first photo was an attempt to recreate the closing shot of the film “Gone With The Wind”, minus Scarlett O’Hara in silhouette, but the sunrise reminded me of the image in final frame of the movie:

As the sky was brightening, I wandered along the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, snapping photos of the fall forest and a barn beside the trail:

A trip to the region would not be complete without a visit to the Book Barn, where I manage to score a great collection of photography books to inspire my shooting:

The barren November garden provided interesting opportunities, with plenty of contrasts and textures that the HP5 is well suited for:

The 35mm Vito II shots are below, starting with another image from the rail trail:

The local brew pub, the Roe Jan Brewing Co, opened just before the pandemic, is a great spot for meal, a drink, and live music:

The pub shares its name with a great local park, the Roeliff Jansen Park, a terrific place for a walk in the woods:

This spot in the park is in remembrance of a local who was killed several years ago in a car accident: the bench and plaque were placed here by the family in commemoration of the victim.

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